Breaking News

21, January 2026

US: Trump’s plane returns to air base after ‘minor’ electrical issue ⁰

US President Donald Trump’s plane was forced to return to an air base late Tuesday due to a “minor electrical issue” shortly after departing for Switzerland, the White House said.

US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews on January 20, 2026 © Mandel NGAN / AFP

Air Force One returned to Joint Base Andrews out of an abundance of caution, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. It landed shortly after 11:00 pm (0400 GMT).

Journalists traveling with Trump reported that lights in the cabin went out briefly after takeoff.

Trump and his entourage will switch to another plane and continue the trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the US president was expected to face off with European leaders over his bid to seize Greenland.

With its classic blue and white livery, Air Force One is arguably the world’s most iconic plane and an instantly recognizable symbol of the US presidency.

Trump has long been unhappy with the current Air Force One jets — two highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft that entered service in 1990 under president George H.W. Bush.

Last year, Trump said his administration was “looking at alternatives” to Boeing following delays in the delivery of two new 747-8 aircraft.

In May, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth accepted a Boeing 747 that the Gulf emirate of Qatar offered to Trump for use as Air Force One.

The jet — worth hundreds of millions of dollars — has raised huge constitutional and ethical questions, as well as security concerns about using an aircraft donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive presidential plane.

Source: AFP

16, January 2026

Yaoundé: Dying season finally arrives ⁰

Cameroon’s Speaker of the House, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, has been rushed out of the country to South Africa for medical treatment as death showed up in his Yaoundé residence a few days ago to snatch the miserable and dirty life of the Speaker of the House who has made liquor his water of choice.

According to our source in Yaoundé, a medical plane landed in Cameroon from Switzerland then continued to South Africa with Mr. Cavaye as the human cargo where the desperate Speaker of the House is expected to receive treatment for multiple health issues.

Mr. Cavaye has been a colony of diseases for decades. His recklessness is finally catching up with him. A heavy smoker and alcohol addict, Mr. Cavaye currently suffers from a chronic heart problem, failing lungs, high blood pressure, diabetes and an enlarged and painful prostrate which is rubbing him of a good night’s sleep.

The man who has been in parliament for more than half a century was not seen during New Year wishes at the Presidency and in parliament due to health reasons.

A source close to Mr. Cavaye has informed the Cameroon Concord News Group that it will take a miracle for Mr. Cavaye to return to Cameroon alive. He added that it was as if the dying season had arrived in Cameroon as the country’s Senate President, Niat Njifenji, and his second vice president, Chief George Tabetando, are fighting for their lives.

Another source close to Chief Tabetando also informed our sister publication Cameroon Intelligence Report that Chief Tabetando is now a shadow of his former self, adding that he constantly runs out of oxygen. The source adds that Mr. Tabetando has been strapped to an oxygen canister which helps him to breathe in Turkey.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé

30, December 2025

Issa Tchiroma Bakary is Cameroon Concord Person of the Year ⁰

For forty-two years, the people of Cameroon have been fed stories that political change was an illusion. Many political commentators opined that the Unity Palace was fixed in place and the country resigned to its fate. Then came a man Issa Tchiroma in the October 12, 2025 presidential election and the whole narrative changed forever.

Issa Tchiroma Bakary (to use his three names) stepped out of a system he once served to confront the very power structure that made him. Tchiroma organized a campaign that became an unexpected rallying point for the entire nation with sell-out crowds, igniting debates, and awakening a people long numbed by routine elections with predictable outcomes.

Tchiroma, a long standing cabinet minister under Biya, broke with the governing body to run as a leading candidate, energizing Cameroonians with promises of change after decades of entrenched rule by the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

The Tchiroma campaign drew large crowds and the former Biya acolyte stated that the will of the Cameroonian people was on his side.

On October 14, less than 48 hours after polls closed, Issa Tchiroma Bakary declared victory in the presidential election and urged President Biya to concede defeat and honour the truth of the ballot box.

Tchiroma’s majority following mobilized in all the nooks and crannies of the country following his electoral victory, with protests and demonstrations pressing for recognition of what they said was a great win for the Northern Cameroon political elite. These demonstrations underlined both the deep dissatisfaction among many Cameroonians and the intensity of political tensions.

However, officially and according to the Constitutional Council — the only body authorized to proclaim election results in Biya’s Cameroon —92-year-old President Biya was declared the winner, securing approximately 53.66 % of the vote as concocted by the ruling crime syndicate, compared with 35.19 % for Issa Tchiroma Bakary. Biya’s so-called victory guaranteed his continued stay in power and extended his decades-long rule.

The opposition rejected the Constitutional Council’s outcome with its leader Issa Tchiroma asserting that state institutions manipulated the results to deny him victory. From his base in Garoua, Tchiroma pressed his supporters and political allies to resist what he described as an illegitimate outcome and he framed his challenge as part of a broader struggle for democratic accountability in Cameroon.

There are moments in a nation’s life when the truth does not wait for official stamps or ceremonial announcements. Issa Tchiroma gave Cameroon that moment in October 2025.

Whether Cameroonians and their partners accept the Constitutional Council’s figures or Issa Tchiroma’s own declaration, one fact is undeniable: Tchiroma achieved what no challenger had managed in decades- he shattered the aura of inevitability that surrounded Biya’s 42-year rule.

Cameroon Concord Group readers in their thousands watched Tchiroma when he declared victory — whether or not the corrupt security and judicial establishments endorsed it — Tchiroma accomplished something historic: he forced the Cameroonian nation to imagine the end of the nasty Biya era. He destroyed the psychological monopoly of one man, one party and one narrative. He made the possibility of transition feel real, tangible and of course reachable.

In that sense, Issa Tchiroma Bakary defeated not just a corrupt, vicious and malicious political figure but a paralysis of hope.

The so called official results may have returned Biya to office. But the story Cameroonians will always remember is not simply about numbers; it is about a perfectly bilingual Cameroonian who stood against a decades-old machine and convinced a nation that change could be claimed, spoken aloud and above all demanded.

Cameroon Concord News People have voted!! Issa Tchiroma Bakary, you are the Cameroon Concord News Person of the Year!!

Your stolen victory will forever remain symbolic, moral and political because you successfully made Cameroonians to believe again. And once a people begin to believe, no regime, no matter how entrenched, sleeps comfortably.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

16, December 2025

Football: Panthère du Ndé Wins Cameroon Cup 2025 ⁰

Panthère sportive du Ndé won the 2025 Cameroon Cup after a penalty shootout victory, prevailing 3–1 following a 1–1 draw in regulation time against Colombe sportive du Dja-et-Lobo. Colombe entered the final as the defending champion after winning the 2024 edition. The match took place at Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé. Panthère fielded a compact and disciplined side, while Colombe displayed ambition and determination to retain its title.

As the tightly contested final progressed, composure created the difference. Panthère du Ndé demonstrated greater control and calm during the penalty shootout. Consequently, the club secured the trophy and confirmed its ability to manage pressure during decisive moments of a national final.

Panthère du Ndé had previously lifted the Cameroon Cup in 1988 and 2009. The West Region club therefore claimed the third Cameroon Cup title in its history. This victory ended a 16-year wait for silverware and marked the return of a historic club to the recent honors list of Cameroonian football.

Officials celebrated the victory in the presence of Célestine Ketcha Courtès, Minister of Housing and Urban Development and honorary president of the Ndé club. Her attendance gave official recognition to what observers described as a historic moment for the West Region side. This high-level political presence increased the symbolic significance of the triumph beyond its sporting dimension.

Panthère midfielder Brandon Fopa, aged 22, earned the man-of-the-match award. He received a CFA2 million check in recognition of his influence throughout the match. He controlled midfield play and managed key phases of the contest.

By defeating the defending champion, Panthère du Ndé delivered a victory with strong symbolic value. The club confirmed its return among Cameroon’s leading teams. The third national trophy strengthened the club’s historical record and could enhance its sporting appeal, political support, commercial partnerships, and supporter loyalty.

Source: Business in Cameroon

4, December 2025

South Africa will ‘take a break’ from G20 after US ban ⁰

South Africa said Thursday it was prepared to wait out next year’s G20 after being barred by the United States and did not expect other countries to lobby for its inclusion.

The United States this month took over the year-long presidency of the group of leading economies after largely boycotting South Africa’s tenure, including the November summit, in an escalation of its attacks on Pretoria.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio repeated Wednesday that South Africa would not be invited to the US-run G20, repeating complaints including unfounded claims that the government deliberately discriminated against the white Afrikaner minority.

Presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya said in response that South Africa would sit out the 2026 series of meetings and resume participation when the G20 is handed to Britain in a year’s time.

“For now, we will take a commercial break until we resume normal programming,” Magwenya said on social media.

The G20 group of nations includes the world’s top economies as well as the European Union and the African Union regional blocs. It accounts for 85 percent of the world’s GDP and two-thirds of its population.

The Johannesburg summit, the first in Africa, was attended by a host of world leaders, including from countries not in the G20, but boycotted by US President Donald Trump.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesman said South Africa did not expect other G20 nations to boycott the US presidency or lobby for its inclusion.

“In fact it would be unhelpful if the entire year goes to waste and the G20 is collapsed,” Magwenya said in an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper published late Wednesday.

South Africa would however expect that other members “register their displeasure with the US in defence of multilateralism and the spirit and purpose of the G20,” he said.

The Trump administration has lashed out at South Africa over a range of policies, expelling its ambassador in March and imposing 30 percent trade tariffs, which Pretoria is still seeking to overturn.

Source: AFP

12, November 2025

Petit Pays is “Forever” ⁰

Petit Pays – Rabba Rabbi, long-awaited Album titled “Forever” is out for production and will be marketed on all digital platforms from November 20th, 2025.

This is a product from his high-definition studio in Bomono-Douala, Cameroon. The album, comprising 13 songs, is a diverse mix of genres, including Makossa, Afrobeat, Zouk, and Rumba.

The album is a nostalgic reflection on his career debut, a blend of tradition and modernity, featuring complex, sophisticated instruments and rich orchestrations that showcase the singer’s artistic merits. He promised his fans the best, and he delivered.

5, November 2025

Parts of Cameroon deserted as Tchiroma calls for a lockdown to protest election results ⁰

Some cities in Cameroon were deserted Tuesday after the main opposition leader asked citizens to stay at home to protest the recent election win of 92-year-old President Paul Biya.

The three-day lockdown, which began Monday, was mainly in key opposition strongholds including the economic hub of Douala and in northern cities like Maroua and Garoua, where deadly protests have taken place in recent days. There was partial compliance in the capital of Yaoundé on Tuesday as some businesses continued as usual.

Biya, the world’s oldest president at 92, won the Oct. 12 vote and secured his eighth term, according to official results. Main opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary, however, claims to have won and has called on Cameroonians to reject the official results.

In his call for a lockdown, Tchiroma said: “Let us keep our shops closed, suspend our activities, remain at home in silence, to demonstrate our solidarity.”

The lockdown in cities where people decided to stay indoors has resulted in economic hardship with businesses and offices closed while some transport services including along intercity routes are grounded.

Amadou Adji, a resident of Garoua whose niece was among those killed during the protests, expressed support for the lockdown. “The lockdown is also a form of solidarity which we are showing to Tchiroma,” said Amadou.

In the economic hub of Douala, food seller Caroline Akuh said it’s been difficult to make ends meet for her family since the lockdown started.

“We are afraid to step out … we are tired of this,” she said.

In Yaoundé, the cost of a 5 liter bucket of potatoes has jumped to $8.78 from $3.50 less than a week ago.

“Prices have gone up in ways no one anticipated,” said Celestin Mimba, a resident in the capital.

The lockdown follows pockets of protests by opposition supporters and clashes with security forces in the aftermath. Authorities confirmed the killing of four persons during protests in the north while the Stand Up For Cameroon civil society group has said at least 23 people were killed during recent protests.

Cameroonian authorities have condemned the protests and accused the opposition of trying to instigate a breakdown of law and order.

Source: ABC News

27, October 2025

Paul Biya, world’s oldest president, declared election winner ⁰

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, 92, the world’s oldest president, was declared the country’s presidential election with 53.66% of the vote, according to official results announced on Monday by the Constitutional Council.

Rival candidate and former government minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary came second with 35.2%, the council said. Tchiroma had claimed victory against the incumbent two days after the October 12 election.

Biya has led the central African nation since 1982. With his re-election, he can now govern until 2032.

The results were announced a day after four protesters were shot dead in Douala, the economic capital, while more than 100 were arrested as hundreds of people stormed streets in several cities.

Tchiroma had claimed victory days before the election, citing results he said were collated by his party. Biya dismissed the claim.

According to Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, governor of the Littoral Region that includes Douala, several members of the security forces were also injured in Douala by the protesters. He said at least 105 protesters were arrested.

Videos online showed protesters clashing with security forces, who fired tear gas and tried to disperse people barricading major roads in Douala and other cities, including Garoua and Maroua in the north.

Dozens of opposition supporters, activists and leaders were arrested in recent days. Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji told reporters on Saturday that the government arrested several people plotting violent attacks.

Tensions built ahead of the election in Cameroon, a country of nearly 30 million people. The decision by Biya, who has been in power for nearly half his life, to seek reelection angered youth and the opposition.

Source: Reuters

21, September 2025

Kupe-Muanenguba: Maiden Upper Balong Youth Festival Revives Culture, Boosts Sports ⁰

The first edition of the Upper Balong Youth Festival ran from 20 July to 17 August in Manyemen. It was organized with funds donated by Upper Balong elites in the country and abroad.

The organizing committee co-chaired by Ta Ndumbe Martin Ayuk of Talangaye and Ta Ebune Philip Ayuk of Baro, included representatives of the eight Upper Balong villages, that is Ayong, Baro, Betock, Ebanga, Manyemen, Oserayip, Sikam and Talangaye. The General Coordination and Chief Operations Officer of the youth festival was Ta Sone Bayen, a notable of Manyemen, who conceived the idea for the festival.

Activities included football for boys and girls, marathon, Miss Upper Balong, teaching youths how to cook traditional meals, speak the local language and sing and dance traditional songs.

Music by Upper Balong pop musicians Ebeny Amstrong in the United States and Tina Tong in Germany was played abundantly during the festival and Chu Bikeng Lato who is resident in the country, performed live during major activities of the festival.

The football tournament of the festival was won by Manyemen for the boys and Ebanga for the girls.

Free Calculators and Math Sets donated by Upper Balong elites were distributed to school children by the President of Upper Balong Teachers’ Association (UBTA), Dr Basua A.A. Emmanuel.

Another high point of the Upper Balong Youth Festival was the Presentation of Ekatih Eyong-Etok, a new book on how to speak and write Kitchui, the Upper Balong language authored by Dr Tabi Elias Mbi, a director at the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency in Yaounde.

By Franklin Sone Bayen

15, September 2025

Decades’ old Bello Bouba/Tchiroma distrust hampering opposition unity ⁰

The campaign of NUDP leader, Bello Bouba Maigari on 14 September rejected the declaration on 13 September that his northern rival, Issa Tchiroma, has been chosen as the opposition consensual candidate, mainly by Ekane Anicet and Djeukam Tchameni. That came as little surprise to anyone who has been following Cameroon’s contemporary political history. The two men distrust each other and had fallen out acrimoniously in 1992.

Below is a fact sheet timeline of the Bello/Tchiroma saga. Let’s take it from 1982:

– When Paul Biya succeeded Ahmadou Ahidjo as second president of Cameroon in November 1982, he appointed Bello Bouba Maigari as his Prime Minister. Bello was 35 years old. He had earlier held a couple of government positions including that of Minister of the Economy. It looked then like Bello was in line to be the third president. Under the constitutional provision at the time whereby the PM was the constitutional successor, Bello was in a position to succeed President Biya if the latter died in office or decided to quit power as his predecessor had done in his favour. It was said that Ahidjo recommended (or imposed Bello on) to Biya to maintain the north-south power balance.

– Less than a year into office, Bello left (or fled) into exile, abandoning or having resigned as PM, following accusations that he was involved in the first coup plot that was uncovered in August 1983 (before the bloody one of April 1984). He relocated to Kano in Nigeria. Little-known Issa Tchiroma then, a railway engineer, was a senior official at the railways company (Regifercam). In 1984, he had been arrested in connection with the failed bloody coup attempt of April 6, 1984. He was tried and found to be innocent, spared execution like many others but still held in detention at the Yoko prison.

– Fast forward to 1991. With the official relaunch of multiparty politics following the December 1990 Liberty Laws, NUDP (National Union for Democracy and Progress) was created with essentially a northern base and former Ahidjo regime men as its leaders. Samuel Eboua, former Secretary General at the Presidency under Ahidjo was its founding President. Though Bello was still in exile, it was widely reported that he would be the Presidential Candidate for NUDP. Hamadou Moustapha who was also a young minister under Ahidjo, was a Vice President and Issa Tchiroma, released from jail under the Amnesty Laws that also rehabilitated the image of those who, like Um Nyobe, Ahidjo etc, were considered political outlaws, became Political Secretary of the nascent NUDP.

– Ahead of the Tripartite Conference that took place in Yaounde in October-November 1991 to bring the CPDM government, the opposition and civil society actors to talk around the table, Bello returned from exile and within weeks, pulled his weight within NUDP and convened an extraordinary congress of the party in Garoua which Samuel Eboua boycotted in protest and where Bello emerged as new President of the party.

– In March 1992, NUDP emerged second with 68 seats behind CPDM’s 88 in the parliamentary (legislative) elections of March 1992 boycotted by SDF and CDU. Bello, Tchiroma and Moustapha were among NUDP parliamentarians. Later that year, Biya appointed Tchiroma and Moustapha into his government. It was reported that the two NUDP men accepted the appointment without the knowledge of Bello, their party leader. Tchiroma was minister of Transport. Moustapha returned to the Housing and Town Planning ministry he had held under Ahidjo.

– When in a 1994 cabinet reshuffle Tchiroma.and Moustapha were maintained in government against Bello’s wish that they be sacked, he said they had thus excluded themselves from NUDP. Furious, Tchiroma was seen on TV threatening that they would “teach Bello a lesson!” He and Moustapha declared they had taken over as leaders of what they called “Authentic” NUDP but later registered a new party, National Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ANDP) in 1995. Both men were eventually dropped from the government in 1996.

– In 1997, Bello was appointed into government as Minister of State for Post and Telecommunications.

– In 2002, Tchiroma returned to NUDP. Unknown whether he was mandated by the party, but obviously unlikely, he played a key role in the quest for an opposition consensual candidate for the 2004 presidential election, which picked the late Adamou Ndam Njoya. NUDP was not officially part of the process.

– In 2007, Tchiroma founded the National Front for the Salvation of Cameroon or FSNC in its French abbreviation.

– In 2008, Tchiroma supported the CPDM’s modification of the Constitution, removing the two-term limit in force since 1996, which would have barred President Biya from seeking re-election at the end of his second mandate under that law in 2011.

– In 2009, Tchiroma was appointed back into the government as Minister of Communication.

– Fast forward to this year. in June, both men resigned from the government. Tchiroma first. Followed by Bello. They both declared their candidacy for the 12 October presidential election. Both men have been pulling big rally crowds in their northern home base. Both men are evidently energizing their base. They are both from Garoua. Opinion polls by English Cameroon for a United Cameroon led by Dr Benjamin Akih, have been suggesting that Tchiroma has a wide lead over all other candidates including Bello.

– About two weeks ago, Bello paid an under-reported courtesy call on Tchiroma at his Garoua home. Little filtered out of the meeting but a video circulating on social media on the same day Tchiroma was presented as consensual opposition candidate, shows both men smiling, shaking hands and later embraced as Bello stepped out of his car and Tchiroma walked out of his house to his veranda.

– The turn-out numbers and anti-Biya energy in the northern regions around the candidacy of Bello and Tchiroma, not seen in previous elections and which gave the impression that Biya owned the massive northern votes, has triggered calls for unity between Bello and Tchiroma to ensure the northern votes are not split. Though both men have visited and held talks with disqualified candidate, Maurice Kamto in an effort towards what many describe as the ideal electoral coalition (KBTM adding Akere Muna), persistent signs of distrust between Bello and Tchiroma are unsettling opposition enthusiasts who hope for a unified opposition front, which many believe, would be the surest way to oust incumbent Biya.

By Franklin Sone Bayen